Question about other Islamic sects
Printed From: IslamiCity.org
Category: Religion - Islam
Forum Name: Islamic INTRAfaith Dialogue
Forum Description: Matters/topics, related to various sects, are discussed where only Muslims who may or may not belong to a sect take part.
URL: https://www.islamicity.org/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8398
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Topic: Question about other Islamic sects
Posted By: SarahAhmed
Subject: Question about other Islamic sects
Date Posted: 27 January 2007 at 6:03am
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Asalamu Alakum, I would have asked this question in a more appropriate forum, but I can't post in it. Can someone tell me what the differences are between Sunni, Shia, Sufi, and Wahabi Muslims? Thankyou, Sarah |
Replies:
Posted By: rami
Date Posted: 28 January 2007 at 8:33pm
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Bi ismillahir rahmanir raheem assalamu alaikum Sunni and Shia muslims are the two main groups of muslims, Sunni's make up roughly 90% of the muslim population while shia are about 5-8%. In this sense you can say Shia are a sect of islam while sunnis are the main body of muslims and not a sect. Sect: A religious body, especially one that has separated from a larger denomination. Shia were the first muslims to separate from the main body of muslims, The term Shia or Shi'ite derives from a shortening of Shiat Ali or partisans of Ali. They split becouse they regarded Ali [ra] as the first khalif of Islam. This group had nothing to do with Ali as they split sometime after his death. Wahabis are a group of people who follow the teachings of Muhammad ibn Abd al-Wahhab a man who conquered the Arabian peninsula about 220 years ago with the help of the Saudi tribe they were eventually defeated by the forces of the Muslim Khalif at the time but there descendants eventually regained control with the help of the colonial powers [Britain, France etc], this is how we have the term Saudi Arabia the country is named after its rulers and did not exist more than 130 years ago. They are considered as being a sect "in" Sunni islam unlike the shia who are not sunni's. Sunni's believe in the Quran and the sunnah our sunnah is made up of 6 main collections of ahadith works there are others but we have 6 that are the main. Wahabbi's believe in and follow these collections which is why they are sunni ie they follow the same sources as the main body of muslims but they differ on how they interpret these source's from the majority which is why they are a seperate group and a sect. Shia believe in the same Quran as us but there sunnah is made up of a different collection of ahadith works and on top of that the works of 12 Imams who they consider to be awliyah of Allah. sunni's question the authenticity of many of these ahadith and if we were to put there sources to the same tests we put our sources, to check how accurate and reliable they are they would fail hence we dont accept many of there ahadith as being true. It is important to note also that the shia ahadith collection is extrememly small compared to sunni's which is why they rely on the works of people more than sunni's do. To understand what sufi's are is a little more difficult since sufi's can be both Sunni and shia. After the time of the prophet [pbuh] muslim where left with two bodies of knowledge which they could follow the Quran and the sunnah. The Quran was immediately in book form but the sunnah was in the minds and hearts of the sahabbah and tabiin [first 3 generations of muslims after the the sahabbah] it was collected at a much later date and catagerised into different topics dealing with different areas of knowledge. The scholars of Islam took these different topics studied them and made a science out of them, like you have physics "The science of matter and energy and of interactions between the two" or chemistry "The science of the structure, properties, and reactions of matter, especially of atomic and molecular systems". So in Islam we have Aqeedah The science of the Islamic http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Creed - creed , Fiqh the science of sharia or islamic law, Tassawuf the science of tazkiyah an nafs or purafication of the soul from bad charchter traits or basicaly the science of how to behave and be like rasul allah [pbuh], Sufi's are the specialists in this last science. "sufi" is a second-century name applied to a type of Muslim earlier known as "zahid." As for the term "zahid" Imam Ahmad (d. 241) established that it applies first and foremost to the Prophet and his eminent Companions, 
upon him blessings and peace and may Allah be well-pleased with them,
and it applies as well to all the Prophets of Allah, peace upon them.Sunni sufis take the teachings from sunni sources while shia sufis take there teachings from shia sources. there are many diferent groups of sufi's some sunni some shia some who you will find they have "some questionable" teachings while the remainder is fine while others have gone astray and are no longer considered sunni and others who who have no questionable teachings, there numbers are to many to mention. So the Term "sufi" is a general term used to group all of them together even though sufis are made up of many different groups belonging to both sunni and shia islam as well as those who have gone completely astray. Khair insha allah. ------------- Rasul Allah (sallah llahu alaihi wa sallam) said: "Whoever knows himself, knows his Lord" and whoever knows his Lord has been given His gnosis and nearness. |
Posted By: aka2x2
Date Posted: 31 January 2007 at 8:23am
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Rami has given a very comprehensive description of the various terms. I would like to add a few personal thoughts. I believe that Shia was a political movement started by Persian Muslims. The Persians turned this argument on its head by rejecting the whole notion of Khalifate. They said the true leaders of the Muslim Ummah were chosen by God. They said the leaders should have been the Prophet�s descendants through his daughter and son-in-law Ali. Therefore, any other government was against the will of God and had to be removed. They were then able to mount a military campaign against the central government which ended in a new Khalifate dynasty and a semi-autonomous Centuries later Otoman and Safavid empires were fighting each other for territory. They used the Sunni/Shia divide to justify a brutal war that pitched Muslim against Muslim. This war was welcomed and encouraged by the colonial powers. They grabbed land from both sides of the weakened Muslim Umma. The brutality of this war has split the Sunni and Shia ever since and enemies of Islam have exploited the division time and again. I believe Sufism came about with the Mongols invasion of the Middle-East. Muslims were at the height of their civilization when the Mongol hordes arrived and there was a profound cultural shock from the defeat they suffered from Mongols. In a short time the Mongols laid waste to many Muslim cities and left a path of death and destruction in their wake. Afterwards, some Muslims denounced all material concerns and Sufism became prevalent. The great Sufi poet Rumi came of age in this era. He turned away from the cruel world outside and sought God inside of himself. Muslim literature and philosophy was never the same again. ------------- Respectfully  aka2x2
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